New trailer shows Johnny Depp transformed into gangster Whitey Bulger

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Black Mass is set to be released in September 2015

By Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 15:38 EST, 23 April 2015 | Updated: 19:02 EST, 23 April 2015

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Johnny Depp has one of the most distinctive faces in Hollywood, but he's almost unrecognizable in the first trailer for his latest film Black Mass.

In the long-awaited trailer for the film to be released this September, Depp plays James 'White' Bulger - the notorious Boston gangster who topped the FBI's most wanted list for 16 years before he was finally arrested in 2011.

The trailer was one of several Warner Bros screen at CinemaCon on Thursday, and the creepy two-minute clip was a highlight of the day.

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American gangster: The first trailer for the upcoming biopic on the life of Boston gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger was released Thursday. Johnny Depp plays the notorious criminal in the film

Unrecognizable: In the trailer, Depp is completely transformed for the role. He looks several years older, with grey slicked back hair and his brown eyes changes to a grey-blue. Bulger pictured in a 1973 mugshot, right

With thinning blond hair slicked back meticulously, disarming grayish blue eyes, and speckled, pink skin, 51-year-old Depp is transformed into a menacing presence in the generation-spanning story about the alliance between Bulger and the FBI.

'This is a film about the abuse of power,' said director Scott Cooper. 'In the city of Boston at this time, criminals and lawmen were virtually indistinguishable.'

Depp, he said, gives a 'performance for the ages.'

The trailer opens up to Depp eating dinner and complimenting the host and asking about the marinade.

The host, played by actor David Harbour, initially tells Depp it's a family secret but eventually caves and spills the recipe.

First look: Johnny Depp as 'Whitey' Bulger in 'Black Mass'

Dinner talk: The chilling clip begins with a friendly Depp complimenting his host, played by David Harbour (far right), on the steak they're eating

Daggers: When Harbour quickly gives up the 'family secret' recipe, Depp turns cold and goes into a lecture on spilling secrets

Most wanted: The rest of the trailer shows flashbacks of Bulger's darkside: carrying out hits and womanizing

Killer: Depp stands threateningly over a man in this clips previewed in Thursday's new trailer

Evil laugh: Depp eventually breaks the scary silence over the table and breaks out into an unsettling cackle

That's when Depp turns serious and goes on a chilling monologue about the importance of keeping secrets.

'I was just say-' a nervous Harbour answers before Depp cuts him off.

'Just sayin' gets people sent away. Just sayin' got me a nine-year stretch in Alcatraz, you understand? So just sayin' can get you buried will quick,' Depp says.

A silence falls over the table for several seconds, before Depp breaks out in an unsettling cackle.

On set: Depp is pictured above filming Black Mass last July, along with co-star Peter Sarsgaard (right)

The crime drama is based on the 2001 book Black Mass: The True Story Of An Unholy Alliance Between The FBI And The Irish Mob written by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill.

The film also stars Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard and Dakota Johnson.

Bulger had a long career of run-ins with the law, dating all the way back to when he was just 14 years old.

In the early 70s, after spending nine years in prison for armed robbery and truck hijacking, Bulger returned to Boston and joined a prominent Irish mob in South Boston.

As he became climbed up the rankings of the mob, Bulger was recruited in the mid 1970s to become an informant for the FBI, supplying the bureau with information on a rival crime family.

Then in 1997, Bulger was outed as an informant in newspaper reports and he went on the run when his own handler said he was about to be hit with an indictment.

Captured: Bulger pictured on the left in 2011, after he was finally arrested after 16 years on the run. He is currently imprisoned in a maximum security prison in Florida. Depp on the right

Starting young: Bulger's criminal history stretches all the way back to when he was just 14 years old and a part of a Boston street gang

For the next 16 years, Bulger evaded law enforcement until he was finally caught on June 22, 2011 at a Santa Monica, California apartment he shared with his longtime girlfriend.

He went on trial two years later on 32 counts of racketeering, money laundering, extortion, weapons charges, and ties to 19 murders.

He was found guilty on 31 of those charges in August and sentenced to two consecutive life in prison sentences in November 2013. The 84-year-old is currently incarcerated at an all-male federal high-security prison in Sumterville, Florida.

Jack Nicholson's character in the Oscar-winning film The Departed is thought to be loosely based on Bulger.